Liquid ring pump



Nov. 7, 1961 H. J. FELTUS LIQUID RING PUMP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 16, 1958 nvvavron JAMES FELTUS ATTORNEY Nov. 7, 1961 H. J. FELTUS LIQUID RING PUMP Filed July 16, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG rilillllllllllllnlll FIG.4

FIG.5

INVENTOR.

I'LJAMES FELTUS ATTORNEY York Filed July 16, 1358, Ser. No. 748,391 3 Claims. (6]. 103%) My invention relates to pumps and more particularly to a pump of the type in which the pump contains a reserve supply of liquid which when a rotor is operated acts as a piston to enable the pump to handle gases, liquids or a mixture of gases and liquids. The pump with which this invention is concerned is often called a water ring pump or liquid piston pump.

An object of my invention is to provide a more compact efiicient pump which is self-priming and adapted to handle gases, liquids or a mixture of gases and liquids.

Another object of my invention is to provide a so-called liquid piston or water ring pump which is economical to build, efficient in operation and access to the interior of which may be attained with a minimum of efiort.

A further object of my invention is to provide a pump of the self-priming liquid ring type in which the parts are compactly arranged within a cylindrical casing part within which the operating parts are telescopically assembled for quick assembly and dismantling for the purpose of cleaning, replacement or repair of the parts and in which such dismantling may be accomplished without disconnecting the suction and discharge piping to the pump.

My invention further contemplates the provision of a pump which includes a front plate and a rear plate, together with a spacer ring, which encloses the pump impeller; a front cover and a rear cover all enclosed and fitted telescopically within a cylindrical casing which carries the suction and discharge connections to the pump, the whole assembly being held together by through bolts which extend through the cover parts.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be particularly set forth in the claims and will be apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1- is a vertical sectional view of the pump and showing, in additon to the pump, the shaft seal therefor, the support head and the bearings which carry the impeller drive shaft;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the casing with parts broken away;

FIG. 3 is a sectional View taken substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 2 in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 4 is an inner face view of the front plate taken in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical view showing the interior of the front cover plate.

The pump of my invention comprises a casing, gen erally indicated by the numeral 11, a front cover generally indicated by the numeral 12, a rear cover, generally indicated by the numeral 13, a front plate 14, a rear plate 16, a spacer 17, an impeller 18 enclosed by the front and rear plates 14 and 16, a support head, generally indicated by the numeral 19, a shaft 21., and a motor (not shown) for driving the shaft.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the casing, generally indicated by the numeral 11, comprises a cylindrical shell open at both ends, the inner wall 23 of which is machined to a reasonably close tolerance. The casing includes an enlargement 24 at the top thereof which has a suction opening 26 and a discharge opening 27 for the reception of the intake pipe 28 and the discharge pipe 29. Interiorly of the enlarged part 24 of the casing,are cored 3,007,417 Patented Nov. 7, 1961 two branch suction passages 31 the inner ends of which are shown clearly in FIG. 3. Correspondingly, the discharge opening or connection 27 branches to two passages 32 which are not shown in FIG. 3 since they lie in front of the plane of FIG. 3. These passages are similar to the passages or openings 31.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 5, the front cover 12 comprises a hollow dish-shaped member which has an intake opening or port .33 which registers with the left (FIG. 3) intake passage or port 31 in the casing wall 22. The back cover 13 (FIG. 1) has a corresponding opening or port 33 which registers with the other opening or port 31 in the casing (FIG. 3). The front cover and the rear cover have ports or openings 34 which register with the discharge openings or ports 32, one of which has been indicated in FIG. 2, but which have not been shown in FIG. 3.

The interior of the front cover has a rib or partition 36 (FIG. 5) which separates the hollow interior of the cover into a suction space 37 and a discharge space 38. The front cover 12 has an inwardly extending rim 39 the exterior wall of which is machined at 41. The interior wall has a groove 42 for the reception of an O-ring seal 43. Lugs 44 (FIG. 5) are provided in the front and rear covers, the purpose of which will later appear.

The rear cover 13 has the suction port 33 and the discharge port 34 and a vertically extending partition which corresponds to the partition 36 of the front cover (FIG. 5) to divide the interior of the rear cover into a suction space and a discharge space corresponding to suction space 37 and discharge space 38 of FIG. 5. The rear cover 13 has inwardly extending rim 46 with a machined exterior wall 47 and a groove 48 for the reception of an O-ring 49. The rear cover also has the flanges 44 corresponding to the flanges 44 on the front cover (FIG. 5).

The rear cover 13 also has a partial cylindrical wall 52 which together with an approximately cylindrical wall 53 formed on the back of the back cover forms a tight enclosure 54 for the reception of a suitable sealing assembly 55. The sealing assembly per se constitutes no part of my invention. Such mechanical sealing assemblies are well known in the art and no further description thereof is necessary. However, the manner in which the parts are telescopically fitted together enables easy access to the mechanical seal for repair or replacement.

The support head has bearings 57 for the shaft 21 which extend through the support head. The shaft 21 has mounted thereon a Water slinger 58 which prevents water from passing along the shaft into the bearings. A mounting ring 60 bolted (not shown) to the support head partially encloses the water slinger and any incidental seal leakage falls downward between the back wall of the rear cover and the forward wall of the support head and drops through an opening 59.

The impeller has a hub 61 which is secured to the shaft 21 by means of a key 62. Extending preferably radially with respect to the hub are a plurality of vanes or impeller elements 63 which are supported rigidly and radially by an annular ring 64. 7

Referring now to FIG. 4, the front plate has a suction port 66 and a discharge port 67 which are connected, respectively, to the suction space 37 and the discharge space 38 (FIG. 5). A channel 68 is formed in the cover plate, the channel being also shown in FIG. 1. The channel is relatively shallow at 71; increases in cross sectional area 7-2; and starts to decrease in cross-sectional area adjacent to numeral 73. At the top of the pump, as shown in FIG. 4, adjacent the numeral 74, the inner wall of the front plate is substantially flush with the sides of the impeller vanes and as indicated at 76 in FIG. 1, the channel vanishes. The inner face of the rear plate 3 16 has not been shown since it is essentially the same as the inner face of the front plate 14.

The spacer 17 has an inner wall 76 which matches the curve of the outer edge of channel 68 so as to provide a substantially annular space 77 by which the channels formed in the front and rear plates 14 and 16 are connected. Dotted line 79 indicates the portion of the inner wall of the spacer which is machined to form a fairly close running fit with the impeller blade tips. There is thus provided a pair of plates and a spacer which form walled channels gradually increasing and then decreasing in cross-sectional area from adjacent the suction ports to the discharge ports where the vanes are approached on all sides by the facing Walls of the plates 14 and 16 and the inner wall 76-79 of the spacer '77. These walls force the fluid out the discharge ports rather than allowing it to recirculate to the suction side thereof.

In order to locate the various parts in their proper relationship and the channels and the various ports, previously described, in communication with each other the front and rear plates 14 and 16 and the spacer 17 are drilled for the reception of a locating pin 81. The front and rear covers have corresponding recesses 82 which register with the ends of the locating pin. By this means the various parts of the assembly may be fitted in the cylindrical part 23 of the casing 22 in telescopic relation, as shown in FIG. 1.

As previously mentioned, the cover plate has openings formed in the flanges 44 and the rear cover has similar openings, as shown, in the flanges 44 for the reception of through bolts 84, in this case three in number, for rigidly clamping the entire assembly together. in this clamped relation the inner margins of rims 39 and 46 of the front and rear cover plates are pressed against the outer faces of the front and rear plates 14 and 16, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and these plates in turn are clamped against the spacer ring 17. The entire assembly is thus compactly arranged and the parts are fitted together accurately and clamped in that relationship. it will be particularly noted that the suction and discharge pipes are rigidly connected to the casing 22. The suction and discharge pipes need not be disturbed when access to the interior of the pump is required. All that is necessary is to remove the through bolts 84 and thereafter all the parts except the rear cover may be removed through the front of the pump. Thus, repairs may be effected, parts replaced or the pump cleaned with a minimum of effort.

The pump may be provided with an opening (not shown) for initially priming the pump and, thereafter, no additional priming is required unless the priming water should evaporate or boil away. A drain opening (not shown) may be provided in case the pump is used only intermittently under freezing outdoor conditions. Moreover, the pump may be mounted on a wheeled base or otherwise rendered portable.

After priming the pump by partially filling the pump casing with water through the prime opening above-mentioned, the pump may be started. Rotation of the impeller or rotor discharges the water out between the blades toward the periphery by centrifugal force. At the same time velocity is imparted to the liquid in the channels. The air, being lighter than the liquid, is not displaced by centrifugal force toward the periphery to as great an extent as the liquid, and remains adjacent the center of the casing. The channel has its maximum cross-sectional area adjacent and beyond the numeral 72 (FIG. 4) and beyond that point. Beyond the point 73, the channels decrease in cross-sectional area toward the discharge ports.

As a pair of blades approach the discharge ports, the liquid is forced between them downward toward the center of the blades due to the decreasing cross-sectional area of the channels which is insufiicient to accommodate all the liquid. This, in effect, provides a positive water piston action pushing the air in the center out through d the discharge ports and through discharge pipe 29 and the passages leading thereto. As the pair of blades pass the bridge 75 (FIG. 4), the space between the blades is completely filled with liquid which is retained therein until the bridge or sealing surfaces between the suction and discharge ports has been passed.

When the pair of blades under consideration has passed the bridge and the roots thereof are in communication with the suction ports 66, the liquid between the impeller blades is thrown out into the channels. These channels increase in cross-sectional area and accommodate more of the liquid thrown out by the blades. This reduces the pressure between the adjacent roots of the blades over the suction port 66 and air or liquid or a mixture of air and liquid is forced up the suction pipe 28 and through the pump. The cycle above described is then continuously repeated as long as the pump is in operation. Thus, it will be apparent that the unit is entirely self-priming and the reservoir of liquid maintained in the pump acts as a piston to cause the pumping action.

If, when the pump is started, the suction line is entirely filled with air, the pump will continue to pump air until the suction line has been evacuated after which the pump will begin to pump liquid in precisely the same manner.

When the pump is stopped and, assuming the drain is closed, the liquid is retained in the pump casing, the pump is ready without any further priming to start pumping air or liquid or a mixture thereof at any time.

The pump is a balanced unit in that two suction ports are provided and two discharge ports are provided on opposite sides of the impeller. The invention of this application is concerned wth this fact; the fact thet the pump can be completely dismantled without disturbing the suction and the discharge pipes and that all the parts thereof which are concerned with the flow of liquid are embraced within and confined by the cylindrical wall of the casing so that when they have been assembled telescopically therein with respect to the locating pin 81, the entire unit may be clamped together in assembled relation with assurance that the ports and passageways are in registry with each other.

While there has been shown and described the preferred forms of mechanisms of the invention, it will be apparent that various changes and modifications may be made therein, particularly in the form and relation of parts, without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pump comprising, in combination, a cylindrical casing having open ends, a front plate and rear plate telescopically fitted within said casing, an impeller having vanes located between said plates, a spacing sleeve located between said plates and interior-1y of said casing and extending around and shrouding the ends of said vanes, a segmental channel formed in each of said plates, a suction passage and a discharge passage formed in each of said plates and connected to said segmental channels, said segmental channels being of varying cross-sectional area and decreasing toward said discharge passages, said spacing sleeve forming a running fit with the ends of vanes between the suction and discharge passages and said plates forming a running fit with the sides of the vanes between the suction and discharge passages, a front cover and a rear cover, each of said covers having a wall dividing each of the covers into a suction space connected to the suction passages and a discharge space connected to the dischange passages, an intake connection and a discharge connection for said pump and said casing having openings for connecting the intake connection and the discharge connection to said suction spaces and said dis charge spaces respectively.

2. A pump in accordance with claim 1 wherein the covers each have a flange which fits within the casing, said flanges having openings for the flow of liquid from the 5 intake connection to the suction spaces and the flow of liquid [from the discharge spaces through said openings to the discharge connection.

3. A pump in accordance with claim 1 wherein the front cover and the rear cover have flanges which engage the internal cylindrical Wall of the casing and the facing edges of the covers engage the external faces of said plates, and a locating pin extending through said spacing sleeve and said plates for orienting the parts and the flow passages.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hansen Jan. 27, Schlachter June 23, Crewdson Feb. 13, Abramson Mar. 17, Frederick Aug. 18, Mann Dec. 31, Baker Nov. 13, 

